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LIBRARY 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 


THE 

CARSON  FOSSIL  FOOTPRINTS. 


DAVIDSON. 


THE 

CARSON  FOSSIL  FOOTPRINTS. 


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DAVIDSON,     ^-^^j^ 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/carsonfossilfootOOdavirich 


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[From  the  "Mining  and  Scientific  Press,"  San  Francisco,  August  6, 1883.] 


THE  CARSON  FOSSIL  FOOTPRINTS. 


lieport  of  Prof.  Geo.  Davidson,  President  California  Academy  of  Sciences. 


Upon  representing  to  the  Board  of  Trustees 
that  more  footprints  had  been  laid  bare  within 
the  State  prison  limits  near  Carson,  Mr.  Gibbes 
and  myself  were  authorized  by  the  Board  to  pro- 
ceed to  Carson  and  make  an  examination.  By 
arrangement,  Prof.  W.  P.  Blake,  of  Yale  Col- 
lege, accompanied  us,  and  promised  to  make  a 
report  of  his  views.  But  the  work  of  all  was 
in  great  measure  inseparable,  except  that  Mr. 
Gibbes  remained  one  or  two  days  beyond  our 
time,  in  order  to  make  some  casts.  The  descrip- 
tions of  all  can  therefore  differ  but  slightly,  it 
is  left,  however,  to  each  to  draw  his  own  con- 
clusions. A  detailed  description  of  the  locality 
and  of  the  peculiarities  need  not  be  introduced, 
because  they  have  already  been  in  great  meas- 
ure presented  to  the  Academy  by  Messrs.  Hark- 
ness,  Le  Conte  and  Gibbes.  What  strikes  the 
visitor  at  first  is  the  fact  that  the  friable  ma- 
terials of  the  two  "floors"  heretofore  referred  to 
are  liable  to  dislocation  and 

Destruction  by  Weathering, 

Cleaning,  and  the  ordinary  trafl&c  of  working 
convicts  and  visitors  over  them.  And  I  must 
confess  to  some  disappointment  in  not  seeing 
more  marked  characteristics  of  the  footprints 
on  the  lower  floor,  because  in  the  published 
drawings  there  is  no  varying  degrees  of  desig- 
nation to  footprints  that  are  deeply  imprinted, 
or  to  those  that  are  barely  traceable.  Of  this, 
however,  I  shall  speak  hereafter.  But  I  was 
very  strongly  impressed  with  the  vividness  of 
some  of  the  impressions  on  the  upper  floor,  and 
of  their  teachings;  and  fearing  that  they  would 
in  time  lose  their  great  value  in  the  earth's 
natural  history,  I  made  arrangements  with  Mr. 
Frank  Bell,  the  Warden  of  the  State  prison,  to 
have  them  reproduced  by  making  casts  of  the 


more  important.  And  here  I  wish  to  expresfs 
the  thanks  of  the  party  to  Mr.  Bell  for  his 
prompt  arid  intelligent  assistance,  and  for  his 
his  generous  entertainment  during  our  stay. 
To  him  and  his  oflBcers  we  owe  acknowledg- 
ment for  their  interest  in  searching  for  and  pre- 
serving every  probable  footprint,  fossil  shell, 
fragment  of  bone  or  tusk,  and  casts  of  pine  cones. 

Mammotii  Remains  and  Bain  Drops. 

One  of  the  first  things  to  strike  the  eye  upon 
entering  the  prison  precincts,  is  the  thin  layer 
or  stratum  of  hard  clay  immediately  over  a  thirty- 
foot  stratum  of  fine  blue  sandstone.  On  this  clay 
layer  are  sharp  and  deep  rain  drops  or  hail 
markings,  which  are  found  even  in  the  faint 
impresses  of  a  mammoth's  feet,  leading  to  a  point 
where  the  same  surface  is  not  marked  by  such 
rain  drops,  but  is  irregularly  smooth,  as  if  lain 
upon  by  a  huge  body  some  twelve  feet  in  ex- 
treme length  by  about  three  feet  in  greatest 
width.  The  foot  prints  are  eighteen  inches  in 
diameter,  and  I  did  not  notice  any  beyond  this 
peculiarly  marked  spot.  In  the  history  of  the 
earlier  excavations  it  is  said  that  a  mass  of 
bones  was  found  at  this  spot,  and  removed  as 
if  of  no  merit. 

And  it  is  also  reported  that  ten  years  since 
there  was  found,  at  a  locality  not  accurately 
known,  an  elephant  tusk,  or  a  part  of  a  tusk, 
which  was  ten  inches  in  diameter  at  the  base, 
seven  and  one-half  feet  long  to  the  point,  which 
was  the  thickness  of  a  man's  wrist  and  turned  up. 

Megatheroid  Footprints— 
The  So-called  Man. 

But  leaving  the  fainter  and  more  doubtful 
marks  and  tracks  which  one  soon  learns  to 
trace   out  and   identify,    I  come    to    the    two 


^  )l  /■ 


principal  series  of  tracks,  important  both  on 
account  of  their  size  and  their  preservation. 

One  of  them  is  the  series  designated  No.  1  in 
Mr.  Gibbes'  canvas  drawings  and  in  the  pub- 
lished plans.  This  series  is  in  a  great  measure 
Protected  outside  the  present  face  of  the  cliff 
y  a  wooden  cover  which  is  only  raised  when 
visitors  are  examining  the  foot  prints;  but  Mr. 
Gibbes  says  that  these  tracks  are  certainly  not 
in  as  good  condition  now  as  they  were  before 
the  last  winter.  Audit  is  reasonableto  assert  that 
with  every  rain,  with  every  frost,  every  new  cast 
made,  every  personal  examination  by  inquisitive 
and  sacriligious  hands,  these  hieroglyphics 
must  suffer  in  sharpness  and  accuracy  of  detail. 

Tlie  animal  which  made  these  footprints  ap- 
pears to  have  been  moving  from  the  cliff  out- 
ward— using  the  term  cliff  for  reference  only — 
and  since  the  first  visit  of  Dr.  Harkness  and  Mr. 
Gibbes  and  Prof.  Le  Conte,  a  short  drift  or  tun- 
nel has  been  run  into  the  cliff  exposing  other 
footprints  and  also  the  footprints  of  a  mammoth 
intermingled. 

The  indications  point  to  the  great  probability 
of  the  two  animals  being  there  at  or  very  near 
the  same  time,  because  one  of  the  footprints  of 
the  mammoth  obliterates  one  of  the  footprints 
of  the  preceding  animal. 

And  here  it  is  proper  to  state  that  I  use  the 
term  mammoth  provisionally.  The  diagram 
designated  series  No.  1  continued,  illustrates 
nearly  to  scale  this  combination  of  footprints; 
those  only  partly  exposed  are  to  be  uncovered 
in  the  casts. 

Upon  a  minute  examination  of  some  of  the 
footprints  of  the  first  animal  or  the  so-called  man, 
and  the  material  in  which  these  prints  were  made, 
a  very  striking  fact  was  demonstrable. 

A  lower  stratum  of  mud  had  been  formed,  had 
dried  considerably,  and  the  surface  was  seem- 
ingly quite  firm,  suffering  very  little  impres- 
sion to  be  made  in  it.  Above  this  had  been  de- 
posited another  layer  of  mud  about  three-fourths 
of  an  inch  thick  and  apparently  quite  suft. 
There  is  no  doubt  on  this  point  of  the  two  layers, 
because  the  upper  layer  of  three-fourths  inch  is 
in  parts  removed  and  is  removable,  and  is  in 
places  lying  ready  to  be  swept  away,  so  that 
there  is  no  assumption  of  the  existence  of  these 
two  layers.  The  existence,  consistency,  and  re- 
lation of  these  two  layers  is  very  important  in  a 
study  of  the  footprints.  The  foot  of  the  animal 
in  its  deliberate  walk,  and  with  its  great  weight, 
would  very  easily  press  from  under  it  all,  or 
nearly  all,  of  the  material  of  the  softer  upper 
layer,  especially  if  the  lower  layer  were  unyield- 
ing or  nearly  so.  And  if  this  upper  soft  layer 
were  not  yet  *'set"  it  is  very  likely  that  part  of 
the  material  would  settle  back  when  the  foot 
was  removed.  Moreover,  if  the  lower  layer 
were  in  that  stiff,  yet  sticky  condition  which 
most  of  us  have  experienced  in  walking,  riding 
or  driving  through  adobe  soils,  there  would  be 
occasional  lifting  up  of  some  parts  of  that  layer 
by  its  sticking  to  the  sole  of  the  foot. 

Now,  upon  careful  examination,  this  result 
is  clearly  exhibited   in   several  of  these   foot- 


prints; the  foot  pressed  the  softer  material  of 
the  upper  layer  from  under  it  and  rested  on  the 
stiffer  layer  beneath  it,  and  when  the  animal 
raised  its  foot  the  softer  material,  though  quite 
soft,  was  not  thir)  enough  to  flow  back  into  the 
print,  so  that  a  fair  marginal  edge  may,  in 
some  instances,  be  traced.  Again,  when  that 
foot  was  raised,  or  when  the  second  foot  was 
raised  from  the  same  track,  it  lifted  with  it  an 
irregular  area  of  unequal  thickness  from  the 
more  tenacious  layer  beneath.  In  some  places 
this  removed  area  goes  out  to  the  border  of  the 
imprint,  and  in  no  two  instances  is  it  identical 
in  shape  or  location.  Where  the  surface  of  the 
lower  stratum  is  not  wholly  removed  by  such 
adhesion  of  the  stiffer  mud  to  the  sole  of  the 
foot,  there  is,  in  some  cases,  a  narrow  border  a 
few  inches  long  and  an  inch  or  more  in  breadth 
of  it  smoothed  apparently  by  the  slightly  for- 
ward or  backward  slip  of  the  foot  when  lifted, 
just  as  would  happen  to-day  to  an  animal  walk- 
ing over  a  stiff  adobe  soil.  The  soft  unctuous 
character  of  the  upper  stratum  naturally  aided 
this  slipping  movement,  no  matter  how  little 
it  may  have  been. 

It  is  these  pieces  of  smoothed,  narrow  border 
which  have  been  aggregated  to  form  the  san- 
daled foot  of  a  so-called  man.  But  I  am  con- 
vinced that  a  study  of  the  facts  which  are  now 
presented,  and  the  whole  appearance  of  the 
surface  roughened  by  the  lifting  of  part  of  the 
lower  stratum,  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  no 
sandaled  foot  was  necessary  to  produce  the  im- 
pression indicated.  Other  facts  to  be  men- 
tioned will  sustain  this  deduction. 

Two  or  more  foot  prints  exhibit  other  in- 
teresting minutiae  of  detail.  At  what  may  be 
supposed  the  heel  of  the  animal's  foot,  the  in- 
ner sloping  of  the  soft  marginal  mud  shows 
distinctly  a  series  of  lines  as  if  made  by  a  mass 
of  hair  or  other  similar  material  attached  to 
the  foot;  and  at  what  may  be  supposed  may  be 
the  toe  end  of  the  animal's  foot,  the  inner  slop- 
ing of  the  same  layer  of  softer  mud  indicates 
that  when  the  foot  was  lifted  the  forward  part 
had  a  slight  movement  inward, 

I  examined  these  markings  carefully  to  see  if, 
by  any  possibility,  minute  remains  of  hair  or 
other  material  might  be  still  attached  to  the 
mud.  And  where  so  much  of  interest  is  cen- 
tered it  seemed  exceedingly  important  that  a 
member  of  the  academy  should  be  present 
whenever  any  new  drifts  are  to  be  made  be- 
cause the  minutest  details  should  be  gathered. 
This  was  carried  out  at  the  opening  of  the  last 
two  mammoth  tracks,  when  Dr.  Harkness  and 
Prof.  Joseph  Le  Conte  and  Mr.  Gibbes  were 
present. 

In  this  series  of  tracks  it  may  be  safely  as- 
serted that  there  are  no  two  which  are  exactly 
alike  in  outline  or  imprint,  whatever  significance 
may  be  attached  to  that  fact. 

In  the  line  of  these  tracks,  or  at  least  in  the 
pathway  of  20  of  them,  reckoning  from  the 
half-exposed  one  in  the  drift,  there  are  no  other 
tracks  except  the  three  or  four  mammoth  tracks 
at  the  drift,  or  tunnel  under  the  cliff,  and  somg 


[The  following  was  inadvertently  omitted  in 
printing.  See  X  mark,  page  o,  first  column.] 
outer  one  is  not  so  perfect  as  the  inner  one,  yet 
each  indicates  that  the  foot  pressed  through 
about  four  inches  of  mud  and  raised  a  moder- 
ately broad  margin  of  one  inch  in  height,  thus 
making  the  apparent  depth  five  inches;  and  this 
depth  was  not  in  one  layer  of  mud,  but  at  least 
two  are  indicated  by  the  annexed  drawing. 
These  are  the  two  tracks  which  were  first  ex- 
posed to  Dr.  Harkness,  Mr.  Gibbes  and  Prof. 
LeConte,  and  described  by  them. 

In  the  outside  tracks  there  is  nothing  to  indi- 
cate in  which  direct"  on  the  apparently  round- 
footed  animal  was  moving;  but  in  the  two  best 
preserved  examples  there  is  a  decided  duplica- 
tion on  the  margin  of  each  in  the  line  of  march, 
but  not  extending  to  the  depth  or  the  breadth 
of  the  whole  foot.  The  footprint  exhibits  the 
exposed  addition  as  a  segment  having  a  chord  of 
about  one- third  of  the  diameter,  or  less  than 
one  half  the  diameter,  of  the  main  imprint. 
Each  of  these  two  principal  footprints  is  twenty 
inches  across  at  right  angles  to  the  line  of  march. 

I  examined  carefully  for  finer  markings  on  the 
margins  of  the  priats,  but  could  see  no  evi- 
dences of  any  other  indentations  as  if  from 
toe-pads,  etc.  This  addition  at  the  margin 
either  indicates  the  duplication  of  the  footprint, 
or  it  affords  a  clue  to  the  shape  of  the  foot.  The 
hind  feet  would  appear  to  have  stepped  into  the 
print  of  the  forefeet  with  great  regularity,  but 
I  could  see  no  evidences  of  any  other  indenta- 
tions, as  if  from  toe-pads,  etc. 

It  would  be  extremely  interesting  to  have  at 
least  two  more  of  these  footprints  expo<»ed, 
and  that  the  members  should  again  scrupulously 
and  minutely  examine  them  when  they  are 
brought  to  light,  and  at  once  obtain  casts  undc  r 
the  most  favorable  conditions  of  freshness,  etc. 
Tablets  of  the  Footprints  to  be  Made. 

These  two  series  of  great  footprints  just  de- 
scribed seemed  to  me  so  valuable  in  paleonto- 
logical  investigations  that  I  laid  down  a  plan  to 
reproduce  them  as  nearly  as  practicable  in  their 
present  condition  and  relation.  For  this  pur- 
pose Messrs.  Blake  and  Gibbes  and  myself  have 
measured  a  line  through  each,  and  at  eaph  foot- 
print in  the  first  series  described,  and  including 
the  well  marked  birds'  tracks,  a  series  of  de- 
termined oflfsei-s  indicated  by  drilled  holes,  has 
been  so  arranged  that  each  plaster  cast  will 
contain  two  of  these  holes,  and  each  footprint 
will  be  numbered. 

From  these  casts  v/e  hope  to  be  able  to  re- 
construct, in  sections,  a  tablet  for  series  No.  1, 
not  less  than  forty-six  feet  long  and  three  feet 
wide  for  the  greater  part,  and  about  six  feet 
wide  at  the  part  under  the  cliff,  where  the  two 
animals  crossed  in  their  march. 

In  the  line  of  mammoth  tracks,  a  central 
line  was  laid  down,  and  offset  measures'will  be 
made  at   each  imprint   to   properly  locate   and 


orient  the  same.  The  length  of  this  series  will 
be  about  forty  feet,  and  should  two  fresh  tracks 
be  uncovered,  it  will  reach  forty -nine  feet  in 
length. 

That  these  representations  of  the  actual 
tracks  will  be  of  great  importance,  goes  for  the 
saying;  and  already  inquiries  have  been  made 
for  copies  on  behalf  "of  the  Smithsonian  Insti- 
tution, for  the  museum  at  Paris,  for  the  Cen- 
tral Park,  New  York  (through  D.  0.  Mills), 
etc.  This  work  is  now  being  done  under  the 
direction  of  Mr.  Frank  Bell. 

Length  of  Stride,  etc 

As  determined  by  Mr.  Gibbes,  the  pathway 
of  the  mammoth  tracks  is  about  thirty-six  inches 
broad,  and  the  breadth  of  what  has  been  de- 
nominated the  straddle  is  nineteen  inches.  My 
measures  of  the  average  longitudinal  distance 
apart  of  the  imprints  of  the  eastern  steps  is,  for 
five  spaces,  eight  feet  eight  inches,  and  for  four 
spaces  of  the  imprints  of  the  western  steps,  is 
eight  feet  nine  inches.  The  imprints  are  not 
evenly  separated,  the  range  being  nearly  two 
feet. 

For  the  quadruped  of  the  first  series,  the  ao- 
cailed  man,  the  longitudinal  distance  apart  of 
the  imprints  of  the  right  feet  for  nine  spaces  is 
four  feet  ten  inches,  and  for  nine  spaces  of  the 
left  imprints,  four  feet  nine  inches. 

I  did  not  measure  the  breadth  of  the  straddle 
of  this  series,  being  satisfied    with   Mr.  Gibbes' 
previous  measurement  of  nineteen  inches,  which 
is  the  same  as  that  of  the  mammoths. 
Footprints  of  the  Elk. 

The  next  series  of  tracks  that  we  measured 
were  those  which  Prof.  Blake  and  myself  provis- 
ionally, and  for  reference  only,  have  denominated 
the  elk.  But  there  is  no  proof  whatever  that 
they  were  made  by  an  elk.  We  could  not  make 
out  any  one  footprint  specifically,  because  the 
mud  layer  had  been  too  soft  and  deep,  and  the 
animal  evidently  had  sharp  feet,  or  hoofs,  M'hich 
went  down  deeply,  as  if  the  animal  were  quite 
heavy.  But  we  felt  satisfied  of  the  direction  in 
which  the  animal  was  moving.  We  did  not 
preserve  the  strict  line  of  march  of  the  animal, 
but  measured  the  distance  apart  of  the  consecu- 
tive imprints  and  the  breadth  of  the   straddle. 

The  imprints  appear  to  have  been  made  by  a 
second  foot  treading  in  or  very  nearly  in  the 
track  of  the  first.  The  prints  average  4^  inches 
long  and  3^  inches  broad.  The  breadth  of  the 
straddle  is  13  inches,  and  the  longitudinal  dis- 
tance apart  of  the  imprints  of  7  ti-acks  on  one 
side  is  6  feet  2  inches,  and  of  6  tracks  on  the 
other  side  is  the  same. 

The  diagram  exhibits  the  distances  measured 
from  one  footprint  on  one  side  to  the  next  foot-/ 
print  on  the  other  side,  and  these  distances  ar^ 
]aid  down  for  an  average  path  ay.  Five  feet 
from  the  line  of  the  above  prints  were  footprints 
which  might  have  been  made  by  a  deer  or  some 
similarly  cloven  hoofed  animal. 


bird  tracks  from   the  heel  of  the  ninth   to  the  marked  near  one  of  the  large  quadruped  imprinta 

toe  of    the  tenth  animal  track.      These  bird  which   Mr.  Gibbes  has  referred  to  in  his  first 

tracks  will  be  referred  to  hereafter.  description  as  "several  confused  tracks  of  a  man 

This  series,  as  heretofore  described,  is  on  the  and  some  large  animal"  (page  2),  but  these  latter 

"upper  floor,"  two  feet  above  the  "lower  floor"  bird  tracks  were  in  a  short  curved  path  and  the 

of  the   published   diagrams,  and  on  the  same  pace  irregular. 

"upper  floor"  are  the  imprints  of    the   mam-  In  those  measured  the  step  or  pace  was  twenty 

moth   line.      This    series    has    no    designating  and   one   half  inches,  the  length  of  the  middle 

number  in  the  pubhshed  diagram.  toe   four  and   one  half  inches,  of  the  two  side 

Footprints  of  the  Mammoth,  tl IZZ^t  ^a  ^'^^'^Iu?  ^""^  .''''^  ^^^^  ^°^^^"' 

or  Elephant  and  of  the   hmd  and   thinner  toe  two  and  one 

or  Jiiepnant;.  fourth  inches.     In  this   track  the  hind  toe  was 

In  the  series  of    mammoth    tracks,   and   I  pointing  inward,  both  for  the  left  and  right  foot. 

think  we  may  safely  assume  them  to  belong  to  The  wader  which  made  these  tracks  would  be 

some  species  of  elephant,  I   selected   a  line  of  that  of  a  good  sized  heron  or  crane. 

ten  for  casts.     These  tracks  are  not  of  uniform 


depth  on  account  of  the  partial  destruction  of 
the  different  layers  of  mud  through  which  the 
animal's  feet  pressed.  Those  imprints  farthest 
away  from  the  present  face  of  the  cliff  are  dis- 
cernible through  the  lowest  layer   of  mud;  and 


Footprints  of  the  Tiger. 

I  use  this  term  provisionally.     On  the  lower 
floor  are  several  lines  of  tracks,  some  of  which 

^^^^ ._„e,^ _^_    „. ,  „ are  very  obscure  as  to  details  of  structure,  but 

they  rested  upon  a  subsurface   ripple-marked  f.PPai^^^t}y  made  by  a  four- clawed  animal.     Our 

stratum  without  obliterating  or  changing  any  jj^^^ted  time  forbade  us  examining  all  of  these 

of    the  ripple  marks.      This  substratum  had,  ,"^f ,  inmutely,  but    we  traced   four  pairs   of 

therefore,    been   hardened    before    the    animal  ^^^^}^,  tracks  of  another  animal,  which  we  have 

walked  over  it.     As   we   approach   the   face  of  Provisionally  designated  a  tiger,  and  of  which 

the  cliff  the  imprints  are   more  distinctly  ex-  ^  Present  a  drawing.     The  animal  was  bounding 

hibitedand  we   are  able  to  measure  the  inside  *''omthe  line  of  the  cliff  towards  the  N.  N.  W., 

diameter  of  the  foot  at  right  angles  to  the  line  ^"^  unfortunately  the  surface  of  the  stratum  im- 

of    march   at  21    or  22  inches.     Between  the  P^^^^^ed  has  been  badly  scarred  by  rocks  tumbled 

fourth  and  fifth  imprints,  reckoning  from  the  "P^^  ^^  ^°  quarrying.     The  first  pair  of  tracks 


last  ones  exposed  in  the  drift  or  tunnel  under 
the  cliff,  there  are  footprints  of  the  same 
species  of  bird  which  has  marked  the  sur- 
face in  so  many  places. 

The  two  last  exposed  mammoth  footprints  are 
within  and  under  the  cliff,  and  although  the 

I  use  the  term  provisionally;  they   may   be 


is  obscure;  the  next  three  pairs  very  well 
marked,  the  marks  of  the  nails  in  the  extended 
claws  being  clearly  impressed,  and  the  toe-pads 
also.  On  the  same  horizon  are  the  tracks  of  the 
same  species  of  bird  as  already  described,  and 
also  the  faint  impress  of  the  so-called  man. 
These  latter  are  fairly  well  outlined  by  the  fact 


long  to  the  peccary.  Close  under  the'  cliff,'  near  *{^^*  there  has  undergone,  in   the  compressed 

the  series  No.  1,  we  found  a  line  of  tracks  made  .^y  ^^  "^"^'  a  certain  oxidation  of  iron   which 

by  an  animal  with  a  sharp  pointed,  broad  heeled  f^^®^  l*^  ^^^  ^^^^r  to  the  imprint.     But   one  of 

hoof.     Whether    this  was  a  cloven   hoof,  we  J^^^J  latter  footprints  is  certainly  duplicated  at 

could  not  decide,  because  the  impressions   were  ;^  ,    ^J  as  if  one  foot  had  stepped  nearly  in  the 

made  in  quite  soft  mud  into  which   the  foot  of  ^^^^^  ^l  another,  and  at  the  outer  tiger  tracks  it 

the  animal  must  have  sunk  two  or  more  inches,  ^®^"^^'  y'om  the   impression,  that    these   were 

and  when  retracted  each  hole   was   in  a  great  Y^    ^  ^^^^  *^^  impress  of  this  so-called  man 

measure  closed.     The  best  two  prints  give  the  *rack. 

length   of  the  impression  2^  inches,    and  the  ^  J^^S®  ^y  *^®  increased   length   of  the  sue- 

breadth  of  the  heel  2  inches.  cessive  strides,  as   well    as    by    the  extended 

We  measured  the  relations  of  10  of  them  and  ^^aws,  that  the  animal  was  bounding.     Beyond 

found  the  average   straddle  was  8  inches,  and  *Jlf  ^^^*  Pa^''  ^f  tracks  the  horizon  is  destroyed, 

the  average  longitudinal  distance  apart   of  the  T    l^  are  tracks  of  an  unknown  animal  a  little 

consecutive  imprints  of  the  5  of  the  left  feet  is  *^  *"®  right  of  the  prolongation  of  these  tracks; 

2  feet  9  inches;  and   of  the  right  feet  is  2  feet  apparently  it  had  four  sharp    pointed    toes  or 

7  inches.     But  the  range  of  these  distances  is  7  ^^ws.     Beyond  these  indefinite  ones  occur  two 

inches,  and  of  the  straddle  over  4  inches.     The  P^\7  ®/  tracks    which    might  be  made  by  a 

pathway  was  not  straight,   nor  was   the  mud  ^^^'  °^  *^®^^  Mr.  Gibbes  has  taken  casts, 

quite  uniform  in  stiffness.     The  footprints  of  .,,         accompanying  diagram  is  introduced  to 

each  side  indicate  that  each  hind   foot   exactly,  "lustrate  the  general    character  and    relative 

or  very  nearly,  covered  each  corresponding  fore-  P^^^ition  of  the  tiger  tracks,  except   as  to  direc- 

foot.  *^®^'  as  the  animal  swerved  somewhat  to  the 

Footprints  of  a  Large  Bird.  1^^*-     The  left  feet  impressions  are  larger  than 

^     ...  ^  those  of  the  right,  and  at  the  third  pair,  either 

Of  the  numerous  prints  of  a  four-toed  bird  we  the  left  foot  slipped  back  or  there  was  a  dupli- 

selected  four  for  measurement  because  the  line  cation.    I  incline  to   the    former  explanation- 

was  nearly   straight  and  the  distance  nearly  and  it  will  be  noticed  that    in    the  alternate 

even.  Other  imprints  were  even  more  distinctly  pairs  the  left  foot  is  at  a  greater  distance  for- 


ward  of  the  right  foot,  as  12  and  12  to  6  and  2 
inches. 

The  average  straddle  is  only  5  inches;  the 
consecutive  longitudinal  distances  between  the 
left  toe  of  each  pair  are  respectively  4  feet  8 
inches,  5  feet  6  inches,  and  6  feet  6  inches.  I 
have  not  drawn  the  imprints  to  scale,  nor  have 
I  been  accurate  in  details  of  structure,  because 
casts  will  be  made  of  them.  The  positions  and 
sizes  of  the  bird  and  so-called  man  tracks  are 
only  approximated  in  the  drawing  as  of  sec- 
ondary importance  in  this  relation. 

Footprints  of  the  Horse. 

By  removing  some  quarried  rocks  Mr.  Bell 
exhibited  a  line  of  tracks  which  seemed  to 
have  been  made  by  a  horse,  because  the  impress 
of  two  of  the  best  of  them  showed  satisfactorily 
the  existence  of  the  frog  of  the  horse's  foot. 
The  depth  of  the  first  one  had  preserved  it 
from  injury  in  quarrying,  etc.,  and  at  the  bot- 
tom the  length  was  five  inches  and  the  breadth 
four  inches;  at  the  surface  the  length  was  six 
inches.  These  imprints  indicated  to  my  eye 
that  the  foot  was  more  like  that  of  a  mule 
than  a  horse;  and  as  my  party  is  constantly 
using  both  animals  in  our  geodetic  surveys  we 
are  somewhat  familiar  with  the  different  foot- 
prints. 

The  average  longitudinal  distance  apart  of 
the  imprints  of  the  right  side  is  five  feet,  two 
inches;  of  the  left  side  five  feet,  three  inches; 
and  the  breadth  of  the  straddle  is  about  four 
inches,  but  the  line  of  travel  is  not  straight. 
The  accompanying  diagram  illustrates  upon  the 
same  scale  as  the  others  the  stride  and  size  of 
the  footprints  of  this  animal. 

Nearly  parallel  with  this  line  of  march  are 
several  other  lines  of  apparently  a  similar  ani- 
mal, but  the  imprints  are  relatively  obscure  as 
to  structural  details.  The  general  features, 
however,  are  similar. 

Footprints  of  a  Bos. 

Provisionally  we  have  referred  to  this  animal 
as  the  "nondescript."  Close  under  the  eastern 
clifi"  there  is  seen  the  impresses  of  five  feet. 
The  animal  was  apparently  a  short  stepper,  had 
cloven  hoofs,  and  a  body  so  heavy  that  the  feet 
sank  deeply  into  the  soft  mud  layer,  probably 
to  a  harder  layer  below.  It  would  appear  that 
when  the  foot  was  withdrawn  the  mud  was  in 
such  a  plastic  condition  that  it  inflowed  suffi- 
ciently to  obliterate  the  bottom  marking  of 
the  hoof.  The  surface  of  the  layer  is  marked 
by  heavy  rain  drops,  and  there  are  bird  tracks 
near  it. 

There  are  only  five  of  these  footprints,  when 
the  animal  turned  to  the  left  and  the  horizon  is 
lost.  The  average  longitudinal  distance  apart 
of  the  left  imprints  is  two  feet  two  inches;  and 
the  average  longitudinal  distance  of  the  consec- 
utive footprints,  one  foot  one  inch;  and  the 
straddle  six  inches. 

So  far  as  measurements  could  be  fairly  made, 
the  average  length  of  the  double  hoof  was  three 
and  three-fourths  inches,  and  the  breadth  nearly 


three  inches.  Three  of  them  were  two  and 
three-fourths  inches  broad  at  the  heel,  and  two 
consecutive  ones  first  before  the  animal  turned 
were  three  and  a  half  broad. 

These  imprints  present  somewhat  the  appear- 
ance of  a  heifer's  tracks,  and  Capt.  Hooper,  of 
the  U.  S.  Revenue  Marine,  who  has  had  the  ex- 
perience of  two  seasons  in  the  Arctic,  says  they 
immediately  suggested  the  reindeer  tracks  to 
him,  although  the  latter  are  broader. 

A  Fine  Curved  Line. 

Near  these  imprints  is  a  sharp,  double- looped 
curve  cut  in  the  soft  mud.  It  is  roughly  indi- 
cated on  the  canvas  from  memory.  It  is  a  fine- 
cut  line  ranging  from  one-half  to  one  millimeter 
across,  and  less  than  that  deep.  I  removed 
some  crystals  from  one  part  of  it  to  test  its  hav- 
ing been  made  at  the  same  time  as  the  nonde- 
script. 

Footprints  of  the  Dog 

A  line  of  tracks  provisionally  assumed  to  be 
those  of  a  dog  exhibit  a  peculiarity  of  gait, 
which  is  shown  in  the  unfinished  drawing,  in- 
stead of  progressing  with  apparently  alternate 
steps,  we  see  a  progression  by  alternate  pairs; 
r.  e.,  two  steps  rather  close  to  each  other  or 
side  of  the  line  of  march,  then  a  wider  space  to 
similar  tracks  on  the  other  side  of  the  line  of 
march. 

The  structural  details  are  moderately  good. 

Another  drawing  of  similar  but  larger  foot- 
prints was  made  by  Mr.  Gibbes;  it  exhibits 
this  peculiarity  of  gait  still  more  markedly,  for 
the  prints  of  the  close  pairs  are  only  4^  inches 
apart,  and  the  distance  apart  of  the  pairs  is  14^ 
inches. 

There  were  other  footprints  which  we  had 
not  time  to  measure,  but,  which  may  prove  of 
great  interest;  especially  as  two  or  more  of 
them  may  possibly  have  been  made  by  web- 
footed  birds. 

The  Published  Diagrams  Should 
be  Corrected. 

A  pressure  of  other  duties  has  compelled  me 
to  be  much  briefer  than  the  subject  demands. 
I  have  endeavored  to  state  the  facts  as  they  have 
appeared  to  my  eye  and  to  a  steel  tape  line.  I 
had  no  theory  to  advance  in  making  the  exami- 
nation, but  I  could  not  help  having  convictions 
forced  upon  me  which  were  made  stronger  with 
each  new  phase  of  the  investigation.  But  in  the 
first  place  I  wish  to  call  attention  to  the  dia- 
grams published  under  the  auspices  of  the 
academy,  and  therefore  making  it  responsible 
for  the  results.  The  work  had  been  done  with 
great  conscientiousness,  but  there  is  nothing  in 
the  diagrams  to  indicate  whether  a  footprint, 
especially  of  the  so-called  man,  is  obscure,  or 
whether  it  is  distinct  and  well  marked,  as  in 
series  No.  1.  Now,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  these 
footprints  on  the  lower  floor  are  mainly  very 
faint  indications,  and  would  most  likely  have 
left  no  outline  from  the  removal  of  the  upper 
and  softer  layer,  but  that  there  is  a  develop- 
ment of  the  red  oxide  of  iron  in  what  was  the 


lower  clay  surface  wherever  the  animal  placed 
its  feet. 

Therefore,  in  so  far  as  the  diagram  is  con- 
cerned, these  facts  should  be;  as  they  can  be, 
fairly  and  properly  indicated  by  different  depths 
of  shading,  etc. 

Secondly,  in  the  diagram  of  the  mammoth 
footprints  and  other  tracks  at  the  southeast 
angle  of  excavation  there  are  two  matters  that 
need  rectification  as  misleading.  First,  the 
legend,  "Impression  of  the  Body  of  an  Animal." 
Now,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  this  is  only  a  report 
that  has  been  handed  down  in  the  history  of 
the  earlier  excavations,  for  the  floor  is  removed 
and  nothing  whatever  is  left  to  indicate  this 
problematical  "impression." 

Thirdly,  near  the  same  place  on  the  dia- 
gram are  five  round,  full  tracks  described  with 
others,  in  the  text  as  "  several  confused  tracks 
of  a  man  and  some  large  animal."  This 
"large  animal,"  referring  to  what  made  the 
round  tracks;  but  these  apparently  different 
tracks  were  all  made  by  the  same  animal,  the 
so-called  man.  When  this  animal  came  to  this 
part  of  the  mud  deposit  it  found  itself  in  soft 
mud,  into  which  the  feet  sank  about  four 
inches,  apparently  to  hard,  coarse  sandstone 
beneath,  and  it  possibly  made  a  turn  to  avoid 
being  bogged.  One  of  these  round  tracks  has 
had  the  center  core  of  coarse  sandstone  removed 
by  Mr.  Bell,  and  the  result  is  a  display  of  one 
of  the  long  footprints,  and  the  others  are  cer- 
tainly footprints  of  the  same  animal,  produced 
at  the  same  time,  but  these  prints  are  yet  all 
filled  up.  Whether  this  filling  is  from  the 
supposed  deposit  of  coarse  sand,  as  in  the  one 
cleaned  out,  or  whether  from  "  balling"  of  the 
foot,  remains  to  be  proven.  I  have  written  to 
Mr.  Bell,  asking  him  to  make  an  examination  of 
the  matter. 

And  here  it  may  be  suggested  that  in  this 
very  locality  we  might  reasonably  expect  to 
find  more  important  footprints  and  possible  re- 
mains, especially  if  the  animal  became  bogged 
in  this  soft  mud. 

The  So-called  Man  is  a  Quadruped. 

The  question  of  the  quadrupedal  character  of 
the  footprints  of  the  so-called  man  having  been 
raised  by  high  authority,  it  was  a  matter  of  in- 
terest to  ascertain  if  there  was  any  indication 
of  duplication  of  footprints;  that  is,  whether 
the  hind  foot  was  placed  unsymmetrically  over 
the  back  of  the  forefoot.  I  have  already  stated 
that  in  series  No.  1  there  are  no  two  tracks 
which  are  exactly  alike,  and  that  in  the  line  of 
the  wolf's  tracks  one  of  the  imprints  of  the  foot 
of  the  so-called  man  is  apparently  duplicated. 
Other  indications  of  duplication  are  to  be  found 
in  the  different  series  on  the  lower  floor,  and  in 


more  than  one  instance  a  secondary  side  im- 
press on  one  side  only  of  the  animal  is  as  clearly 
indicated  as  the  impress  itself.  So  marked  was 
this  in  one  instance  that  a  plaster  cast  had  been 
taken  of  the  two,  and  I  examined  the  original 
to  find  the  smaller  secondary  clearly  made  out 
but  the  larger  and  inside  track  mostly  obliter- 
ated by  the  wheels  of  carts  carrying  stone  from 
the  quarry. 

In  this  light  the  evidence  seems  to  me  unan- 
swerable that  the  so-called  man  was  a  quadru- 
ped, and  it  will  require  the  wiping  out  of  these 
duplications  before  they  can  be  assigned  to  a 
biped. 

The  question  of  the  assumed  sandal  of  wood 
or  of  rawhide,  was  clearly  solved  in  my  mind 
as  soon  as  I  made  out  the  existence  of  the  two 
layers  of  mud  of  different  stiffness  and  tenacity, 
already  detailed  with  some  minuteness  in  the 
description  of  the  footprints  of  the  series  No.  1. 
Moreover,  in  the  newly  exposed  footprints  of 
the  same  animal,  where  the  impress  is  made 
several  inches  deep  in  the  softer  soil,  there  is 
no  indication  whatever  of  a  sandal.  Nor  in 
many  footprints  which  I  examined  on  the 
lower  floor  is  there  any  such  suggestive  margin. 
With  the  palpable  evidences  before  me,  I  can 
see  no  other  logical  deduction  that  that  the 
animal  was  a  quadruped;  whether  a  megatheroid 
or  a  bear  I  leave  for  the  paleontologists  to  de- 
cide. It  is  the  solution  of  a  mechanical 
problem  by  actual    graphical    demonstration. 

Fragmentary  Character  of  Tusks, 
Teeth  and  Bones. 

A  word  more  of  the  character  of  the  deposits 
after  the  mud  layers  of  the  upper  and  lower 
floors  had  been 'covered  by  them. 

The  first  10  feet  is  composed  of  very  sharp, 
small  grains  of  sand  from  disintegrated  quartz 
and  other  materials.  It  has  been  deposited  by 
swiftly  moving  waters  as  indicated  by  the 
markings  of  the  numerous  deposits  lying  at 
many  angles,  and  having  been  partially  cut 
away  and  redeposited  many  times. 

In  this  stratum  are  found  the  jaw  bones  here- 
tofore described  by  Mr.  Gibbes,  pieces  of  ele- 
phant tusks,  fragments  of  bone  and  of  teeth, 
the  tooth  of  an  alephant,  of  which  I  furnish  a 
drawing;  and  the  matrices  made  by  pine  cones, 
and  pieces  of  wood.  All  these  fossil  remains 
are  fragmentary  and  scattered,  indicating  that 
they  have  been  water-borne  by  the  strongly 
rushing  waters  which  brought  down  the  sands, 
and  that  the  source  from  whence  they  came  was 
up  the  stream  at  a  higher  level. 

[A  series  of  diagrams  to  scale  was  used  by 
Professor  Davidson  for  reference  as  he  proceeded 
with  his  report.] 


